Celebs With A Bit Of Irish

Star of ‘Tron Legacy’ and ‘House’, Olivia Wilde is Irish-American. Adopted her professional name “Wilde” after she developed a profound respect and admiration for Irish poet and writer Oscar Wilde and his body of literature. (Credit: ADRIAN SANCHEZ-GONZALEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Zachary Quinto

His father is of Italian descent and his mother is of Irish descent. (Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

She is of Italian and Irish descent. (Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Liam Neeson

Liam was a boxer as a teen-ager in Northern Ireland, which resulted in getting his nose broken at the age of 15. Nevertheless, he went on to win the Irish Youth Championship. A brief blackout after one of his fights, however, caused him to give up the ring for good. In an interview with the BBC, he said that Northern Irish Protestant minister Ian Paisley influenced his decision to become an actor. He use to sneak into the church in his hometown of Ballymena and watch Mr. Paisley preach. “He had a magnificent presence and it was incredible to watch this six foot-plus man just bible-thumping away. It was acting but it was also great acting and stirring too.”.(Credit: Alberto E Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Robert Downey Jr

He is of Irish and Russian-Jewish ancestry from his father’s side and German-Jewish and Scottish descent from his mother’s side. (Credit: TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images)

Mandy Moore

Singer & Actress, Mandy Moore is of Irish and Cherokee descent on her father’s side and of English descent on her mother’s side. (Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

One of the biggest bands in the world, Irish rock band, U2 hails from Dublin, Ireland. Formed in 1976. (Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Martin Sheen

His mother, Mary Ann Phelan, was an Irish immigrant with IRA connections, and his father, Francisco Estevez, was a Spaniard who came to the U.S. by way of Cuba. (Credit: Alberto E Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Matthew Broderick

Actor Matthew Broderick is Polish on his mother’s side and Irish on his father’s side. (Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Lauren Graham

(Credit: David Livingston/Getty Images)

Actress Lauren Graham has Irish roots. Has a half sister, Maggie and a half brother, Chris. First paying job was in high school, in a video about Planned Parenthood. (Credit: David Livingston/Getty Images)

Peter O'Toole

Father was Irish, mother was Scottish. Was friends with fellow Irish actor Richard Harris. After Harris died, his family hoped that O’Toole would replace him as Professor Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Both he and his fellow Irish actor (and close friend), the late Richard Harris appeared in versions of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’: Harris played the 1977 film version Gulliver’s Travels and O’Toole played the Emperor of Lilliput in the 1996 TV-film version Gulliver’s Travels, where Ted Danson played Gulliver. (Credit: Frederick M Brown/Getty Images)

Is of Scottish and Irish descent (Credit: Michael Buckner/Getty Images)

Michaela Conlin

Actress Michaela Conlin of Fox’s ‘Bones’. Her mother is Chinese American and father is Irish American. Michaela has one older sister. She will be seen along fellow Irishman, Matthew McConaughey in ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’. (Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Natasha McElhone

Her mother (Noreen) is Irish. (Credit: Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

Patricia Heaton

Irish-American. (Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Received American Citizenship at the US District Court House in Los Angeles in 2004. He has dual citizenship: Irish and American. He was made a Freeman of Navan, Co. Meath, Ireland (the town he lived in until he moved to England in 1964) on 11th November 1999. His primary residence is in Malibu, California. Owns his own production company, Irish DreamTime. Its first release was The Nephew. Became an American citizen on 23 September 2004 but still plans to keep his Irish citizenship. (Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

Sean Patrick Flanery

He is of Irish descent. (Credit: John Shearer/Getty Images)

Robin Tunney

Irish American; her father emigrated from Ireland and her mother is a first generation Irish-American. (Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Mark and Donnie Wahlberg

LOS ANGELES - DECEMBER 30: Actors Mark and Donnie Wahlberg attend the game between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center December 30, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2007 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Actor Ashton Kutcher is mostly Irish American descent. He also has some Native American and Bohemian (the source of his surname) ancestry. (Credit: YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images)

Laura Prepon

She is of half-Russian-Jewish and half-Irish-Catholic descent. (Credit: Alexandra Wyman/Getty Images)

Cillian Murphy

Actor Cillian Murphy of ‘Batman Begins’ & ‘The Dark Knight’. As of 2006 he is the most nominated Irish Actor at the Irish Film and Television Awards with 6 nominations. He is fluent in French and Irish. (Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Bradley Cooper

His father, Charlie Cooper, is of Irish heritage and his mother, Gloria Cooper (formerly Campano) is of Italian heritage. (Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Brendon Gleeson

He played Irish leader Michael Collins in The Treaty. He later had a supporting role in the biopic Michael Collins. (Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Julia Roberts

She has Irish ancestry. (Credit: Michael Buckner/Getty Images)

Alyson Hannigan

Irish-American on her father’s side and Jewish-American on her mother’s side, Hannigan was raised in the Jewish faith. (Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Son of Irish football player, Eamon Farrell. Auditioned to become a member of the Irish boyband, Boyzone, but was turned down. Daredevil marks the first time he has been able to use his own Irish accent in an American movie. (Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

John Travolta

Is of Italian descent on his father’s side and Irish descent on his mother’s side. (Credit: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Kate Walsh

Star of ABC’s ‘Private Practice’, Kate Walsh’s mother is Italian and her father is Irish. (Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

John C. Reilly

Born to an American father (of Irish ancestry) and a Lithuanian mother. He is the fifth of six children. (Credit: Alberto E Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Dane Cook

(Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Carla Gugino

Is of Italian, Irish, and English descent. (Credit: Frederick M Brown/Getty Images)

Actor James Earl Jones is of African-American, American Indian and Irish ancestry. His paternal great-great-grandmother, Parthenia Connolly, was a native of Ireland who worked as an indentured servant. She married a former slave named Brice. Because Brice had no surname of his own, he took his wife’s name Connolly. His maternal grandmother, Maggie Anderson, was part Choctaw Indian. He also has Cherokee ancestry. (Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Anthony Michael Hall

Is of Irish and Italian heritage. (Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Catherine Zeta-Jone

Mother is Irish, father is Welsh. (Credit: JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty Images)

Christopher Nolan

(Credit: Alberto E Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Jack Nicholson

His mother, June Nicholson, was of Irish and Dutch descent. He never knew his father and was raised by his grandparents. He was led to believe that June was his older sister and his grandparents were his parents. It was not until 1974 when a Time magazine reporter researched his life that he learned the truth. An Italian immigrant named Donald Furcillo who was married briefly to June claimed to be his father. But Nicholson chose not to investigate further. (Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

The Baldwin Brothers

The Baldwin Brothers are of Irish and French descent. They are frequently referred to as Irish-American and, although both of their parents have Irish heritage, they are not entirely Irish. Their father was half-English and their mother’s side is primarily French (only one-quarter Irish). (Credit: VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)

Edward Burns

He is Irish-American. (Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

Brian Austin Green & Megan Fox

He is of Irish, Scottish, Hungarian and Cherokee descent. Megan Fox has Irish, French and Cherokee ancestry. Her Irish ancestors were from County Tipperary, one of the first Irish counties to be established in the 13th century. (Credit: GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images)

The ‘Mad Men’ Star is Irish-American. (Credit: David Livingston/Getty Images)

Alex O'Loughlin

Is of Irish and Scottish descent. (Credit: MAX NASH/AFP/Getty Images)

Jason Patric

(Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Star of the ‘Tudors’, actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers is a good friend of fellow Irish actor Stuart Townsend. The two of them protested at the “Save Tara Hill Campaign” in 2006. (Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

Moving to County Wicklow, Ireland, he assumed Irish citizenship (1993). Always quiet and introverted, he said that he was not popular in school and was mocked as an outsider while growing up in England, partially because he was of half-Jewish/half-Irish stock. The upside was that, instead of socializing, he developed a rich fantasy life that later helped him to delve so deeply into his characters. Holds dual citizenship – British and Irish. (Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

Siblings (L-R) Ann, John, and Joan Cusack are Irish-American. The name Cusack is not Slavic as many may believe. It is a Norman name, brought to Ireland when the Normans invaded in 1169. “Cussac” is a city in South Central France. (Credit: Matt Carmichael/Getty Images)